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Shofukuji Temple

Locally knownKnown to people who live here. Not in the international guidebooks.

Researched and written by Hinato

Zen templefirst ZenBuddhismhistorytea

Photo: そらみみ (Soramimi) / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · original

Before Shofukuji Temple became a stop on any list, it was — and still is — a working place of worship in Fukuoka.

Shofukuji, founded in 1195 by the monk Eisai after returning from Chinese Song Dynasty, is the first Zen Buddhist temple established on Japanese soil. Eisai also brought back tea seeds from China and planted them in the Hakata hills — a dual legacy that gave Japan both its primary Buddhist sect and its defining beverage. The temple grounds, occupying a full city block behind the hotel district, contain buildings that have burned and been rebuilt multiple times but maintain an austere Rinzai design unchanged since the Kamakura period.

Visiting essentials

Best time to visit

Year-round | Early morning (9:00–10:00 AM) for quiet monastic atmosphere

Hours

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Closed: Open year-round

Admission

Free | Tea packets (gift shop): ¥600

Time to allow

30–45 minutes

Finding your way there

Access notes

Hakata-ku. Near Gion Station. Free entry to grounds.

Visiting etiquette & tips

**The moss garden inner yard:** Through the san-mon gate and right into the smaller inner compound is a moss and stone garden accessible to visitors but never mentioned in tourist literature. The space is maintained by the resident monks and sometimes contains a monk engaged in raking work — the most direct glimpse of active Zen monastic practice available in the city. **Tea significance:** A stone marker near the east entrance notes this as the origin point of Japanese tea culture. The connection to Eisai's tea tradition means the temple sells small packets of Itoshima-grown tea (the hills Eisai planted) — an authentic historical continuity at ¥600.

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